Spot Gold Prices – Daily Chart 26th March 2009

Spot gold prices moved higher yesterday on a weaker US dollar and uncertainty in the currency markets following comments from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying that the US would be open to an expansion of the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights program. Further support for gold came from the economic data with new home sales climbing for the first time in seven months and it was interpreted as possible evidence that the housing sector might be nearing a bottom. Another report showed demand for durable goods rising indicating less deflationary pressure and in turn providing support for buying gold as an inflation hedge.

From a technical perspective, yesterday’s candle finished with an up bar and closed marginally above all three moving averages, but with a long lower shadow which once again bounced off the low of $918 as for the previous day. This would suggest some minor support at this level and we could therefore see a rise in the price of spot gold during the day, following the retest of this region. My suggestion for today is to attempt small long positions with a stop loss below the $895 per ounce region, and to take profits off the table during the day in any move higher. Whilst I believe the bullish momentum will continue in due course, we could see a period of sideways consolidation in the short term before moving higher in the medium term. Look for entry and exit positions in the hourly gold chart.